Portside Pizza Pub — Restaurant in Arnolds Park

In the past I have given Portside pizza a 5 star review, that time the pizza was great. Atmosphere and company was fun. However this time our server disappeared. We watched our pizzas come up and sit in the window. Finally saw our server, she walked right on by one her phone and out the door. So we thought even with a possible shift change we would give a little grace. The kitchen staff (6 people) could see we could see our pizza sitting there. They called out a few times order up. The bartender and another server walked by, looked at it and walked by. We finally got their attention to get the pizzas. Nothing after that. No refills. No service. No box. No check. We watched 6 people in the kitchen stand around between making pizzas, some on their phones half the time. Servers (2) walk by, tables next to us get refills. When we finally asked for a manager, we were asked why. We explained and they indicated they fired the server and there was a manager next door. No apology, basically told since he didn't take our order that was why he had trouble coming up with a ticket. Only after we asked. I have worked in service all my life. It takes a lot to knock down my review this far. A simple, hey I'm taking over, we are busy but I'll take care of you would have went a long way, rather than being 100% ignored. I had family from out of state and was excited to bring them there and instead left disappointed. Pizza was good when we finally got it. Salads were not (side salads were mostly cheese and tomatoes, lettuce was scarce). Drinks ran out. Couldn't find manager next door but the guy we did talk...

Came here to watch the Vikings season opener (3:25pm). They had plenty of TVs to watch the different games. No issues there.

Here's the reason for my 1 star review: The staff was very unprofessional and normally I'm pretty easily satisfied. Our waitress was taking shots behind the bar with customers and the pasta had a large pool of grease in the center and it was very runny. Completely lost our appetites and decided to leave before the game even finished because we couldn't handle being there any longer. They had at least 5 people (too many for how dead it was) in the kitchen area and one of them was literally only just standing on his phone the entire time we were there (about 1.5 hours). The best way I could describe it was that the employees were there to have a good time and making food/drinks was not their first priority. I was very disappointed this experience went bad after one of our appetizers was actually pretty good. We had high expectations because of prior reviews, but we definitely will not be back. The staff and pools of grease overshadowed what started as a good atmosphere/experience. If you've ever watched Bar Rescue before, this place reminded me exactly of the bars...

While visiting family we stopped at Portside Pizza. Very touristy spot, very friendly and good service. We had 4 adults and 5 kids go for lunch it was decently priced and delicious. I will say, however, if your kids are particular eaters they have a limited kids menu. For kids they have chicken strips, personal pizza and fried ravioli plus kettle chips or applesauce. Not bad choices but just saying if your kids are picky it could be hit or miss. Our waitress was very friendly and accommodating as we wrangled five kids ranging from 1 yr to 13 yr. Would recommend to other families or just anyone visiting this quaint little spot! *Oh I will say our oldest ordered some pasta but wasn’t aware it came with cheese on it and it was kind of spicy. We do try to limit her dairy intake so we could have verified if it came with cheese or not - I’m not sure if it said on the menu or not. Just a heads up for others who may have food allergies or...